Rena Reisdorf and Paul Gillen marries during the weekend of July 4, 2014.

Rena Reisdorf and Paul Gillen marries during the weekend of July 4, 2014.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf during the weekend of July 4, 2014. They celebrated at Century Barn, in Mt. Horeb, Wisc. She wore an Amy Kuschel gown and he wore a Hugo Boss suit.

Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf during the weekend of July 4, 2014. They celebrated at Century Barn, in Mt. Horeb, Wisc. She wore an Amy Kuschel gown and he wore a Hugo Boss suit.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Wedding decorations at Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf’s July 5 wedding in Wisconsin.

Wedding decorations at Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf’s July 5 wedding in Wisconsin.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Rena Reisdorf in Amy Kuschel gown at her July 5 wedding.

Rena Reisdorf in Amy Kuschel gown at her July 5 wedding.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf during the weekend of July 4, 2014.

Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf during the weekend of July 4, 2014.

Photo: Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf during the weekend of July 4, 2014 in Madison, Wisc. They celebrated with a “city mouse goes to the country” theme in a barn.

Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf during the weekend of July 4, 2014 in Madison, Wisc. They celebrated with a “city mouse goes to the country” theme in a barn.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Rena Reisdorf in her Amy Kuschel wedding gown.

Rena Reisdorf in her Amy Kuschel wedding gown.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf during their July 5 wedding weekend in Wisconsin.

Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf during their July 5 wedding weekend in Wisconsin.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Rena Reisdorf and Paul Gillen at their July 5 wedding.

Rena Reisdorf and Paul Gillen at their July 5 wedding.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf July 3, 2014, in the bride’ Madison, Wisc.. They were wed by the same Catholic priest who married her parents. She wore a Tibi dress and blue suede Joie heels.

Paul Gillen marries Rena Reisdorf July 3, 2014, in the bride’ Madison, Wisc.. They were wed by the same Catholic priest who married her parents. She wore a Tibi dress and blue suede Joie heels.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Rena Reisdorf and Paul Gillen at their July 5 wedding in Wisconsin.

Rena Reisdorf and Paul Gillen at their July 5 wedding in Wisconsin.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf at their July 5 wedding in Wisconsin.

Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf at their July 5 wedding in Wisconsin.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf at their July 5 wedding.

Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf at their July 5 wedding.

Photo: Angela Voell / Angela Voell / Green Paint Photography

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Blind date leads to love — but only after a time-out

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For Paul Gillen and Rena Reisdorf, the phrase “putting two and two together” might have special significance. Their story starts in 2009 with the unlikely success of a blind date on the recommendation of friends. Paul’s good buddy Bryan was dating Rena’s childhood friend Jessie in San Francisco. The couple encouraged Paul and Rena — both living in Los Angeles at the time — to get together for a drink.

After much prodding, the two met at the Sunset Trocadero Lounge on the Sunset Strip. As her parking meter was expiring, Paul wondered whether she was going to use that as an excuse to cut off the date. “But lo and behold, she put more quarters in the meter,” Paul says. He found her genuine nature refreshing. She liked the way the conversation flowed without awkward pauses.

Although they hit if off, after five or six dates, Paul, having just gotten out of a relationship and busy with a new job, “pumped the brakes.” The two took a time-out, but Paul realized he wanted to see her again. For a month, she didn’t take his calls. Finally, after Christmas, she answered.

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She agreed to meet him again for coffee before work — “the worst slot in any lady’s schedule,” Rena says. “I wasn’t going to give him my fun time.”

After that, the two started dating again, but the stakes were a bit higher in Round 2: Rena had accepted a job in New York. But this time, both were willing to make it work.

“It’s just everything about her,” Paul says of how he knew the relationship was worth pursuing. “Her personality, her passion, her easygoing nature. When Rena walks in a room, everything gets more fun.”

With Rena in New York and Paul still in Los Angeles, the couple would count “the number of sleeps” until they could see each other again, usually every five or six weeks. Somehow 21/2 years went by. “We both knew I had to do it,” Reisdorf says of her New York experience. “We took it month by month, but from there, it was obvious that we had this, no problem.”

Finally, they decided to move in together in a “third-party city.” Gillen, a Bay Area native (he was born in Lafayette), and Rena (originally from Wisconsin), chose Gillen’s home base of San Francisco. He moved there first, and Rena followed in December 2011.

“I was excited when Paul decided to move here, because I knew that would eventually draw Rena here,” says Jessie Plotts, one-half of the couple who introduced the two. (Jessie and Bryan are now married and expecting their first child.)

Paul, 31, works in commercial operations at Levi Strauss, while Rena, 33, works in public relations at e-tailer ModCloth.

In April 2013, Paul planned an early Saturday morning hike. Rena was in town for just a few days, as she’d just returned from Japan and was soon flying to New York.

He packed a bag and water and had coffee and tea ready. All Rena had to do was put on her clothes and get in the car. “I call them death marches,” she says of his outdoor adventures. “I don’t know where we are going or what the endgame is, but I just know I’ll be rewarded with a pancake.” This time, Paul had a bit more of a reward planned.

After making their way to Pirate’s Cove in the Marin Headlands, Paul revealed a few more “supplies”: an engagement ring. After his proposal was accepted, he brought out the Champagne.

That night, they stayed at the Fairmont Hotel and celebrated with dinner at Park Tavern before she left for her work trip.

The two married in Rena’s home town of Madison, Wis., splitting the festivities with Independence Day. On July 3, they were married in a Catholic church by the same priest who married her parents. She wore a mod Tibi dress she found in her sister’s closet paired with blue suede Joie shoes.

After celebrating the Fourth, they had a larger ceremony on July 5. With a high-low, “city mouse goes to the country” aesthetic, they wed in a barn. The bride wore a dress by San Francisco designer Amy Kuschel and herbs in her flower crown. They served meat from a local butcher and wine from California, and yes, the Plotts were there.

“I thought, at the very least, they could be friends,” Jessie remembers of setting up the couple. “But I think we all kind of knew it would work out.”